


If You Poison Us, Do We Not Die?

by Ecrivaisseur



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-05-22 18:30:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6090109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ecrivaisseur/pseuds/Ecrivaisseur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She wants to hate him; to despise him with every fiber of her being just like she hates his insipid wife. Truthfully, she does. Her soul yearns to loathe everything about him, and to not think twice about ordering his death. . . but she just can't. </p><p>While preparing to launch the dark curse, the Evil Queen hatches a plan to truly make Snow White suffer once and for all. A plan to steal her Prince Charming by making him fall in love with her. But, as she can feel her grasp on his heart tightening, Regina finds herself committing the unforgivable mistake of falling in love with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When It's Just Us

Chapter One

When It's Just Us

With his shinning, silver sword outstretched, his bright blue eyes wide and alert, and senses prepared for a moments attack, Prince Charming carefully walks along the empty halls of the Evil Queen’s palace. The sound of footsteps against the stone floor echo in the colossal corridors as he proceeds from room to room, hall to hall, in a search of the castle’s malevolent mistress, ready for any sudden attack by the queen's guards. But none comes, and so he advances on with caution. 

A sinister laugh rings throughout the vaulted ceilings of the halls and into his ears. It’s  _her_ voice, and he uses it to guide him to her location. More dark hallways, eery passages, and ominous rooms await him, until he finds her; she's lurking in a large, vast room tucked away in the tower of the palace. From an an opening onto a balcony, he can see sweeping views of the kingdom at night, and the Evil Queen is standing nearby, before a large, silver mirror. Her back is facing him, and in that moment, the thought of killing her briefly enters his mind. She doesn’t seem to notice him, and it wouldn’t be hard; all he'd need to do was launch his blade into her, and then all of his and his wife’s problems would vanish into thin air.

But he doesn’t linger on it. He’s a hero, and heroes don’t kill. The queen would live to die another day. 

She looks up at his reflection in her mirror, and her thick, scarlet-red lips spread into a wicked smile across her beautiful face. “If it isn’t Prince Charming?”

“Regina,” he replies simply. 

“I was wondering how long it would take you to find me here. You've been lurking in my hallways for sometime, and it's only now you've discovered me. And I always thought you were so skilled at finding people.” The roaring fire ablaze in the fireplace flickers in the background, as she turns around to face him, "Or is that only with Snow White?"

“You might want to get new guards. I was met with no resistance while trying to find you.”

The Evil Queen throws her head back in laughter. “That's because I ordered them to let you find me. Oh, you foolish _boy_ , you didn’t think I knew you were coming? I saw you miles away. I have eyes everywhere; I do have a magic mirror, after all,” she sweeps a hand past the mirror behind her, before slinking her slim body towards him, the tail of her silk dress trailing behind her. 

“If you knew I was coming, why did you let me? Why not stop me?”

“I would never deny an attractive prince who wants to see me.” Her body is now less than a foot away from his. It's the closest either of them have ever been together, and her eyes penetrate his own. If the eyes are windows into the soul, then she's certainly staring into his. She brushes the tips of her long nails against his jawline, slowly, calculatingly, before he slaps them away and frowns. She arches a thick, black eyebrow at him. “But if you’re here to beg me to not to bring any more harm to your  _wife_ , then don’t bother wasting your time. I won’t reconsider.”

“We know about your curse,” David says bluntly, “Maleficent told us you’d stolen it from her, and that you're planning on casting it. Regina, why are you doing this? Just because Snow White is prettier than you?” He's clearly attempting to get a reaction out of her.

He fails, however. The Evil Queen doesn't even blink.

“You’re wife may be fair, prince, but only the _queen_ is the _fairest of them all_ ,” she turns away from him briefly, “Besides, prince, it’s much, much deeper than that. Snow White has wronged me in a way that can never be undone." Her eyes dart back to his, and her mere gaze sends a chilling wave through his skin. The Evil Queen protrudes a singular finger at him. "But, more importantly, I have a question for you." 

His brow furrows. “What could you possibly want to know from me?”

She shoots him a sly glance.“You're a handsome, young prince, with a title, wealth and a kingdom. You could have any woman or man in the land. Why Snow White?"

"I. . . I don't understand." 

"I want to know why you stay with Snow White? For the entire duration of your time together, life has been a living hell. Curses, wars, death. . . Why do you put up with it? You could have anyone, so why do you choose to remain with her?" 

Charming is astounded. “B-because I love her?”

She refuses to accept his answer. “No, it isn't because of  _true love_. I think there’s something more than that.”

He pauses, though remains silent, perhaps waiting to hear what she has to say. "What are you getting at?" he finally asks. 

“Perhaps it's because of your mother?”

“My mother? What about my mother?” It’s more forceful, more irritated, exciting the Evil Queen. "How do you know about her?" 

“Oh trust me, my dear, I know all about you and your mother. How, during those happy years on the farm, when you were nothing more than a shepherd boy, she was all you had. How you were ripped away from her by King George and forbidden from ever seeing the poor old woman again. How after years of being apart, when you were finally reunited with her, you were once again ripped away from her by none-other than death.”

“What does any of this have to do with Snow?” His tone is icy, _harsh_. His mother is, evidently, a sensitive topic with him. Regina, better than most, knows the feeling. 

“Because, during those wretched years at the palace, separated from your mother, you managed to stumble upon someone else to fill the void she left: Snow White. You have a _need_ , Prince Charming, for a woman to guide you. You’re dependent on strong females,” as the words part her lips, she lays her hand seductively on his chest, tickling his bare skin with the tips of her nails. She leans her head in closer, whispering in his ear, “if it’s a powerful woman you’re looking for, why do you waste your time with _Snow White_? On the outside, she may appear strong, but on the inside she is weak. I, however, am no such thing.”

He doesn't pull back, immediately, seemingly lost in her spell, hanging on her every word. It's only a few moments later that he finally does. 

“Nice try, but this little. . . whatever. . . you’re trying to pull on me, it won’t work. And neither will your curse, Regina. We’ll stop you. Me _and_ Snow.”

The Evil Queen shoots him a glare as he turns around to leave. “I look forward to it.”

He casts one fateful glance at her, before finally exiting the room, and as the echo of his footsteps ringing through the halls begins to grow quieter and quieter, Regina turns around once more and proceeds to lounge on a sofa near her flaming fireplace, a grin unfolding itself across the width of her face like a poisonous insect. She lurches her head upwards and feels the heat against her skin. 

"Well?" calls a sheepish voice peering from behind a door in front of her, "did it work?" 

The Evil Queen nods towards her father as he enters the room. "Yes, it did. I have now have the perfect plan on how to truly defeat Snow White." 

"What about the Dark Curse?" 

"I'll still be masquerading like I'm going to cast it. The necessary preparations will still be made, so I can keep up the appearance. However, what I'll really be planning will be far worse for Snow White than just losing her memory. Oh yes, she undoubtedly suffer far more with what I have actually planned, and watching her crumble when it's all said and done is going to be more satisfying, and will make all this effort worth it."

"What is it you have planned?"

"I'm going to steal her one true love, just like she took away mine. I'm going to make Prince Charming fall in love with me." 


	2. A Forest Encounter

Chapter Two

A Forest Encounter

The hooves of Charming’s steed soar through the air, with branches and grass crunching as they fall back down to the ground in movement. It’s a bright, sunny day, with a clear-blue sky and bright, yellow sun bearing down on the land. It's the kind of day that David finds he likes most. He can see his path before him directly through the forest completely unobstructed, making a mostly easy journey for him to the palace that lies only a few miles ahead of him. He can even see the tips of the large tower of the castle peaking gracefully above the large mass of trees ahead of him.

Butterflies starts to flutter inside of him at the thought of seeing his wife again. It’s been days since he last saw Snow - he’s been away rallying allies for the past few days - and he’s surely excited to see her again. All he wants to do right now is wrap her in a warm hug and never let go of her. 

His mind gets lost in thought of his wife, until suddenly his horse screeches to a stop, jumping up and nearly knocking him off the saddle. It startles David back into reality, and, once he regains his balance upon the animal, he looks up to see what it was that caused his horse to stop. An ebony, intricately-carved carriage with black horses and liveried guards stands a few feet away, directly blocking his path. The door of the vehicle swerves open, and an elegantly dressed queen ascends onto the ground.

The Evil Queen flashes Prince Charming a vicious smile. “Our paths cross again, prince.”

The happiness from Charming’s face vaporizes immediately upon seeing her icy face. It’s been almost a full week since his eyes last gazed on that evil, toxic beauty of her’s: those eyes, those lips, that hair. . . she was captivating. It sends a chilly shiver down his spine and throughout the rest of his body, an occurrence he finds frequently when he’s around her.

“ _You_.” He dismounts from his horse and steps towards her, a move he quickly finds himself regretting. 

“Yes, _me_.”

She breezes past him with ease, like a swan on a lake as opposed to a queen in the forest, and circles around his back. It's an action he's sure she's done before based on how effortlessly she accomplishes it. He can feel her gaze never leaving him. Her eyes are like threatening arrows. . . he can feel them anytime they’re directed at him.

She whispers into his ear. “Where are you of to in such a. . . _rush_.”

“To see my wife,” he snaps back, his voice harsh like a bite. “But you probably already knew that. You seem to know everything, don’t you?”

“Oh, my dear prince, I don't know all. I am merely observant.”

“Were you following me?”

“Yes.” She doesn’t even try and hide what she’s up to. Her intentions are clear in her voice, which now flows as a river into his ear. His eyes dart to see that she’s now positioned her head in the crane of his neck. The Queen’s a snake, stalking her prey, and she's just about ready to strike.

He can feel it, but yet he finds himself unable to do anything about it.

“I’m not going to lead you into the palace, if that’s what you think.” The words quickly exit his mouth. He needed to say something, anything, before he finds himself devoured by her. 

“No, I know you’d never do that. You’d never let me near that precious Snow White of yours. Not yet, at least. No, Prince Charming, I’m here for _you_.”

The expression on his face melts as she stares into his eyes. “What?”

“I find that you’ve charmed me,” she lays her hand on his chest as she did the last time they met, "and surely you know the implications of such a feat?" 

“I don’t believe you,” he shoots her a skeptical gaze, “this is some kind of ploy. This is a trap, and one I won’t fall for.”

"This is no trap." Her hands crawls up his neck and to his face, and she drags her finger across the soft skin of his cheekbone, admiringly. “My, aren’t you so different from your brother? Unlike you, he never refused an invitation into my bed.”

“My brother - _James_ -you knew him?” 

“Well of course I knew him. He was the prince of a country that neighbored my own, and he and his father were frequent visitors to my husband’s court. James. . . well, he helped me occupy some of those long, dreary, wretched nights at the palace with that insufferable Leopold. The old man knew full well what was going on, too - he could hear our moans of passion late into the night - but there was nothing he could do about it.” Her finger find their way to his lips, and she trails over them with her nail. “But now, since I’m all alone at the palace, you and I would have nothing to worry about. We could howl into the night without concern- ”

“ _Stop_ ,” Charming says suddenly, trying to sound disgusted, and slapping away her hand. She arches an eyebrow at him, and the edge of her lips curl upwards in a smile. “Stop. Don’t touch me. I’m not my brother. He may have been fooled by your magic, but I won’t be.”

She laughs at him. “Oh, my prince, I’m the Evil Queen. I have a way of always getting what I want.” She eyes him up and down, before plunging her gaze into his eyes one last time. It was like jumping into a deep, serene pool, and he could feel it, too. “And what I want is _you_.”

He shakes his head and steps back, quickly mounting on his horse, though never breaking eye contact with her. He doesn’t dare trust her enough to look away from her for even a moment. No one could ever know fully what she was capable of. “Nice try, but I’m not falling for this. ”

He rides his horse past her, and she watches him go. “We’ll see about that, Prince!” she calls out to him as he departs.

It's only once he's reached the very edge of the forest that he dares to look back at her. Turning his head reluctantly, his eyes glance towards the spot far off in the distance where he and the queen had been standing. She and her carriage have _vanished_. 

He breathes a sigh of relief. 

* * *

Back at the palace, night has descended outside, and Prince Charming treads the corridors of the large palace to his and Snow White's bedroom with a candle-light in hand. The small glow of light is enough to guide him to the large room, and he slips inside quietly, finding his wife softly asleep in their four-poster bed. A chilly breeze rolls through from the open balcony. Charming de-robes from his formal riding attire and slides under the covers beside her, his head falling against the pillow firmly.

He's tired from the long days of journeying he's been through, and he's ready for sleep to overtake his body, to escape this world for a few brief hours until the sun rises in the morning. But alas he can't. Instead, he stares blankly up at the ceiling, completely and totally awake, his mind racing back and forth. 

What he's overtaken by isn't sleep, but thought, about something that's been on his mind for hours. Something he just can't seem to shake. Someone who still hasn't left him. 

He thinking about her touch, her scent, her seduction. He's thinking about _her_. He's thinking about the _Evil Queen_. 


	3. In The Night

Chapter Three

In The Night

Regina’s eyes flutter open with a startle, the dream she had just been caught in sending her right back to the real world, right back to _reality_. She blinks blankly as she sits up in her bed, and gazes out over her airy, dark bedchamber that’s covered in a blanket of silence. But, as she does so, there’s only one word that comes to mind. Only one name that keeps repeating itself over and over again in her mind.

 _David_.

A breeze rolls through in that moment from the open balcony, cooling her body down from the heat she had worked up during her dream. She can feel moist sweat drenching her forehead and neck. She throws off the heavy covers of her bed and descends from its comforts and onto the cold, stone floor. She creeps over to the balcony and looks out over the kingdom.

It’s not surprising that she’s been dreaming about him. She’s had several in the past month since he first came to visit her on that fateful night, begging her to reconsider the threat she made against him and Snow White. Since that very moment, she’d been plotting on how to trick him into falling in love with her. Almost every waking thought had been about him and just how she could scheme his affection, and so she would’ve been a little worried if she _wasn't_ having dreams about him.

But there’s something different about this dream. In it, she sees him running. . . from what, she knows not, and to where, she also knows not. All she sees is him running, as if on a loop, through the trees and fallen branches of an eery forest. He looks back once or twice, to what she also does not know.

It’s peculiar, but Regina’s never placed much emphasis on the meaning of one’s dream, so she shakes it off and steps back into the walls of her bedchamber, walking directly to her magic mirror.

Dreams aside, she’s decided that she needs to see him again, even if just to look at him. Perhaps it will give her inspiration on what to do.

Or perhaps she’ll just enjoy seeing his handsome face once more. She's always been one to admire human beauty.

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me Prince Charming.”

The mirror’s face suddenly appears from within the ripples of smoke clouds. He looks at her confusedly. “But, my queen, the prince is asleep at this hour. The whole kingdom is asleep- “

“Just do it, mirror. Do you dare to disobey your queen?”

“Of course not, your majesty,” the mirror bows his head from within the confines of the glass, and fades away to reveal the face of Prince Charming, asleep and laying next to his wife in their bed. Regina gives Snow’s barely-visible baby bump a glance, before her eyes once more aim on the prince. He snoozes peacefully under the many sheets of the bed.

Regina’s lips curl into a devious grin, and, with the twirl of her hand, she poofs herself from her bedroom and into that of Prince Charming and Snow White’s. The pale moonlight gazes from a window across the expanse of the room, allowing the prince and princess's face to b seen clearly. Regina lurks in the shadows until she finally steps forward to their bedside.

It’s completely silent in the whole palace, the sound of her breath providing the only noise. She looks down at the handsome prince asleep against his pillow.

 _Such a handsome face_ , she thinks to herself as her palm brushes over his forehead, soft enough so as not to disturb him from his sleep, _if only you had never gotten yourself involved with Snow White. You might’ve lived a happy life then_.

She could easily snatch him right then and there; with the twirl of her hand, she could transport the both of them to her palace, and then Snow White would never see him again. It wouldn’t be hard, in fact, she might enjoy seeing both their startled faces once they’ve realized what has happened to them. No, she most certainly would enjoy that. 

But she doesn’t, because she knows that what she has planned will far greater bring her joy. Were she just to take the prince, Snow White would never stop searching the land for her husband. It's happened before. But, were she to make Prince Charming fall in love with her, that's a different story. Then and only then, would Snow White truly crumble, knowing that she's lost the one person she loves most at the hands of Regina. 

Then, she finally experience the pain she caused Regina all those years ago. . . with Daniel. . . and then, at that exact moment, will Regina truly be satisfied.

She steps back and takes one last look at the prince.

And then she’s gone.

* * *

When her body reemerges in the bedchamber of her palace, she finds a slithering reptile in leather garments curled on her sofa, with an sinister grim of yellow teeth spread across his scaled face to her greet her. Regina frowns upon seeing the man she loathes most.

“Hello, dearie,” he croaks, tapping his fingers together excitedly with the tips of his nails.

“Rumplestiltskin, how did you get here? I thought the two idiots had you locked away in a dungeon beneath the castle that barred your magic?”

The man laughs as he stands up from his seat. “You of all people should know better than to assume some silly bars can keep me locked up! Oh, no, I’m only in that prison because that’s exactly where I need to be.”

“Then what brings you here, Dark One?” She swoops over to beside her bed, and wraps a a silky robe around her bare frame. As she tightens the cloth around her body, his voice aches once more.

“Well, because, dearie, I’m concerned about _you_. Why haven’t you launched the dark curse yet, Regina?” His voice is smooth, though it’s clear the adamancy in it.

“Hm, if you aren’t truly trapped in that prison, and can flicker to wherever you please, then what’s it to you when I cast my curse?”

“I have my reasons,” he pauses and looks up at her, “and I know you do, too. That's exactly why I’m here, Regina.”

“By all means, Rumple, do tell.”

He smiles at her. “You see, I know exactly what you’re up to. This little plot your carrying on with Prince Charming, how you plan on tricking him into falling in love with you so as to further cause Snow White pain, won’t work. Not without help.”

“Well, Rumple, if I didn’t know any better, it sounds to me like you desperately want to play matchmaker?”

“I just want the dark curse cast, soon, dearie,” and approaches a side-table that stands near the center of the room, “which is why I’ve brought this.” He retrieves a small glass flask from his pocket and sets it on the table, “a love potion to make Prince Charming fall in love with you. Well, a potion that at least makes him think he’s fallen for you.”

Regina looks at the liquid for a brief moment, before her gaze returns once more to Rumple’s. “I don’t need your help.”

He laughs. “Your judgement is clouded. You think you can accomplish this all on your own; this plan, this curse. Everything. But we both know you can’t. Do you think you got to this point all by yourself, dearie? Far from it. Deep down inside, you realize that if it weren’t for Cora, and if it weren’t for me, you’d never be here. So, while you may think you can accomplish this all by yourself, in time, after failing again and again, you’ll know you can’t. So I’ll just leave this here until then.”

With the blink of an eye, he’s vanished, leaving Regina all alone in the room. With a grimace, she picks up the bottle and looks at it carefully, before walking over to her nightstand and placing it in a drawer.

She doesn’t want his help.


	4. The Queen's Proposition

Chapter Four

The Queen's Proposition 

Regina traces a long, graceful finger against the smooth rim of the rounded bottle as she cups it in the palm of her hand, her dark brown eyes set on the azure-colored liquid that swirls within it. It was the potion Rumplestiltskin had left her when he'd paid the palace a visit a few nights ago. Since then the flask had remained in the chest she had placed it in, so sure that she would never use it or want the Dark One’s help. That is until now.

Now she was. . . _reconsidering_.

It had been days since the Evil Queen had even laid eyes on the prince - that is, with the exception of her magic mirror, from which she practically gazed upon him at all times - and she hadn’t made any substantial progress in awhile. And with the date of her curse was looming near, she needed to do something quickly.

Abruptly she returns from the land of thought as her ears are met with the sound of footsteps growing nearer and nearer in the hallway outside her bedchamber. She tightens her grip on the potion and wraps her fingers around the small bottle, shielding it from outside view. Her eyes dart up to see her father enter the room.

“Regina," he whispers quietly.

“Daddy.” Her voice echoes throughout the room, and she makes no attempt to mask her current emotions in her tone. 

Her father notices. “What troubles you, my love?”

“I’m conflicted.”

“Does it-” he takes a few steps forward, though he interrupts himself as he notices her fisted hand. “Wait, what’s that your hand?”

She opens her palm and glances at the bottle before looking back at him. She hadn’t told him about the potion, or Rumplestiltskin’s offer, or any of that night, for that matter. “It’s a spell that the Dark One gave to me. It has the power to make a person think they’ve fallen in love with someone.”

“And you plan to use it on the prince?”

“I’m reluctant to accept _his_ help. I don’t want anything from that man. The last thing I need is to be in his debt.”

“Then what perplexes you, my love? You say you won’t use his gift, but your behavior suggests that your mind tells you otherwise. What's the matter?”

“I’m running out of time, daddy. My curse is just around the corner, and I haven’t made much progress. I need to do something, soon,” she holds the potion up with the tips of her fingers and inspects it carefully, “and as much as I despise being beholden to Rumplestiltskin, this potion could help me accomplish what I desire.”

“But Regina,” Henry says firmly, more so than he’s ever before, “is it worth succumbing to the Dark One?”

Regina was silent for a second. “Perhaps it is,” she whispers unconvincingly. 

Silence resumes. “Regina?”

She slams the bottle onto a nearby table with a rage, and, to her father’s surprise, it doesn’t shatter into hundreds of tiny shards of glass. The Evil Queen continues to glare off into the distance, furious because she knows the truth. There's no point trying to convince her father, because she can't even convince herself. “No, it isn’t.” Henry almost speaks, but her face lights up before he can do so, as a fresh, new idea suddenly springs itself upon her. “But I think I know just how I get around this.”

* * *

“I’m becoming a cow!” Snow White exclaims as she rubs the palm of her hand over the width of her very-widely-rounded belly that protrudes out into the air very visibly from between the flaps of her shawl. She smiles lovingly as she gazes down at the bump, picturing the beautiful baby growing inside of it one day very soon being in the grasp of her arms. The physicians had told her the baby was only a month away from being born.

“Nonsense!” replies Prince Charming, who walks beside her as they stroll through the palace gardens. “You are far from it. Snow, you are beautiful.” As the words slip out of his mouth, however, Charming can’t help but feel an instant pain of guilt. While his wife _is_ a very beautiful woman, he wasn’t thinking of her when he said those words.

He was thinking of _her_. The Evil Queen.

From behind them, Grumpy, who follows along in their footsteps, nods in agreement. “He’s right, Snow. You’re the fairest in all the land, sister.” He reassures resolutely and without hesitation.

Snow eyes them both with a sweet gaze and a grateful smile. She almost speaks, but, just then, clutches her stomach suddenly. “Charming!” she cries, and he turns to her with a panicked expression dripping from his face, only to be reassured by the warm, vibrant smile beaming from her face. She looks up at him. “It’s kicking! The baby is- ”

Her words halt immediately, as the world around Charming seems to freeze in its spot.

“Snow? _Snow_?” he stops, however, as the intoxicatingly sharp scent of roses forces itself into his nostrils. It’s a perfume. He gulps.

He knows exactly what’s happened. He can even hear her breathing from behind him.

“You.” He draws his sword and turns with a vicious look and stares at Regina's very pleased face. “Why do you keep following me?”

“I’ve taken an interest in you, prince.” Charming rolls his eyes, expecting her to approach him, just like all the other times before. To be a beast, swooping down from the sky to strike at its prey. But, to his surprise, she remains steadfast in her position.

“If you want to kill me, just get it over with and do it already. You continuing to visit me like this is more anguishing than death will ever be.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that. You can’t fool me that easily, Prince Charming,” her eyes continue to pierce his, “and I’m not here to kill you, so you won’t be needing that,” she wipes her hand in the air, and his blade vanishes. “I’m here to make a proposition.”

She’s careful with her word selection, and even then The Evil Queen can hear Rumplestiltskin’s voice ringing _deal_ in her ears. She puts it out of her mind.

“A proposition? What makes you think I’d ever agree to any _proposition_ that you make?”

“Because you want to protect your precious wife and child,” her eyes drift over to Snow White, who’s still frozen with her hand over her belly. Being frightened by the killer look he notices in the queen's eyes as she stares at Snow, it doesn’t take Charming long to agree.

“Fine. Tell me whatever ever it is you want. Just don’t hurt them.”

“That’s what I thought. You are _so_ easily predictable,” they stare at each other for a brief moment, before she continues. “My offer is simple: meet me tonight at the edge of the dark forest and come with me to my palace. Stay with me for the night.”

“If you think something’s going to happen, you’re mistaken,” he spits.

“I don’t think anything will happen, my dear. All I want is a good feast and some good wine with a very handsome prince as my dinner partner.”

“And if I do this, you’ll leave my wife and child alone.” It was a statement more than it was a question.

“For now.”

Charming looks over at his wife. “What am I supposed to tell Snow? She won’t like this.”

“You’re an intelligent man. I’m sure you’ll think of something. That is, if you truly _are_ concerned for her safety?”

“I am,” he sputters quickly. 

“Good. Then I’ll see you later tonight, prince.” With that, the Evil Queen vanishes into a cloud of smoke, and at once Snow and Grumpy unfreeze.

Charming stares at the spot where the queen had been standing, before he looks back at Snow and wraps his arm around her. Her gaze has fallen flat as she rubs her hand over her stomach. “The baby," she utters quietly, "it’s stopped kicking.”

* * *

From in-between the bare branches of dense, towering trees of ebony oak, the moon creeps and looks over the path that Prince Charming navigates, providing a tiny sliver of light in the otherwise pitch-blackness of the night. A lantern in hand, David can just barely maneuver his way through the heavily intertwined thicket of trees. He can only see a few feet in front of him, the light provided by the lantern only stretching so far, and he's tripped and fallen more than once that night. 

Stepping over the fallen carcass of a dead tree, the prince stops dead in his tracks and extends the lantern out further for a better view. Not four feet ahead of him, two bright eyes peer at him in the dark. 

"What did you tell your wife?" the Evil Queen's voice soothes to him. 

"That I was going to visit the fairies." 

"Lying to your wife are we, prince? Too ashamed to tell her about the other woman in your life demanding your attention." 

"Let's just get this over with," he snarls back to her. 

"Very well. Your enthusiasm is riveting, I might add," she replies back to him playfully, and with the twirl of her hand, the prince and the queen are transported elsewhere.

 


	5. Dinner At The Palace

Chapter Five

Dinner At The Palace

“You haven’t touched your wine,” the Evil Queen points out slyly as she eyes the prince seated opposite her at the other end of the long, oak table in the banquet hall. A long buffet of food, fine dishes and silverware, and gilded candelabra all spread out over a silk, white tablecloth serve as the only things separating them. “Nor any of the delicious treats the palace cooks have prepared.”

Prince Charming hadn’t touched a single bite of anything in front of him. In fact, during the few hours he had already been at the Evil Queen’s palace, he had barely even looked at Regina, let along touch anything. “I’ve lost my appetite. Don’t want to risk eating something that might be poisoned.”

Regina smiles a devilish grin at him. “I told you before, dear, prince, I have no desire to kill you. Perhaps maybe later, but not at the moment.”

“Because you’ve taken a ‘special interest’ in me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because. . . you remind me of myself. We both have a particular allure to the dark side in our hearts. We can feel its presence inside of us, and we like how it tastes. The only difference is that I’ve accepted it. I’ve embraced it. You, however, have not. You continue to try and convince yourself it isn’t real, that it isn’t there, when we both know that’s not true.”

"That may be true for you, but not me." David remains silent for a moment before finally continuing. "You don’t think I know what you’re trying to do to me?  With these sick games you’re playing?”

“I’m not playing games, my dear prince. I’m only trying to help you realize the person who’s really inside of you. I'll admit it that, when I first noticed the darkness nibbling on my soul, pulling on my innocence ever so gently, I didn’t want to accept it either. I thought of it as a disease, one that I could only cure by ignoring it. Going about life as if it wasn’t there; I’d seen first hand what that kind of evil did to a person - my own mother tried many a time to instill it inside of me - and I used all the strength I had inside of myself to resist it. To hold it back from eating me away. It took all my might. At every corner, trials tempted me to allow darkness control over me, and I resisted as long as I could.” David continues to listen quietly as the Evil Queen’s words flow from her mouth, her story. . . her struggle against accepting an innate darkness. . . arising something inside of him that he didn’t like.

She glances away from him a brief moment, before her gaze aims at him once more. “Until one day I was so weak, so beaten down, that I finally had a taste of it. Just one small taste, that was all, and I promised myself that I’d never do it again. But the taste of evil on my tongue was too tempting, and that was it. I was hooked. I let the darkness inside of me, and I’ve been a better woman since. It took someone else’s intervention to finally get me to have a sip of that delicious darkness, and I want to do that for you, too.”

“You and I are _not_ the same,” David scoffed. “There is no darkness inside of me. This is all just some further, revolting plan to get at me and Snow. Well, this. . . whatever it is. . . won’t work, Regina.”

The corners of Regina’s full lips stretch upwards into the curve of a smile. “I can hear the denial in your voice. I can smell it on you like the scent of alcohol on a drunk. Why continue to fight it? Accept it.”

“There is nothing to accept. I told you, I’m-”

“Really? Then tell me, prince, why have you lied to your wife about our encounters? Why did you lie to Snow White about meeting me tonight?”

“I did that to protect her. To protect her from _you_.”

“Oh, but you see, that’s where it always begins. We use the protection of others as an excuse to dip our toes into the darkness without having to get fully wet, to justify having a sip of it to ourselves. I did the same. My mother was an evil, vicious woman, and I used the darkness to help banish her to another realm. I told myself that I did it to not only protect myself, but to prevent everyone else from having to further suffer at her hands. But deep down inside, I couldn’t deny myself the real reason: I had wanted to taste what it felt like to do it. To use darkness.”

“I told you, we’re _nothing_ alike. You may have wanted to taste the darkness, but I don’t. I can resist it.”

With all the elegance of the queen she was, Regina rises up from her seat and glides down the length of the table between them, dragging a single finger against the silken tablecloth. She continues to speak. “Even if it means you could stop your dear old dad?”

“What do you mean? Snow and I already defeated my father. We rule his kingdom now, he’s no longer a threat.” He tries to convince himself. 

She smiles at him. “Oh, but that’s what you think, prince. But in reality, as we speak, your father is planning a revolt. He’s gathering up soldiers and allies to help him take back the throne. I know because he’s sent a letter to me, asking for my assistance in his endeavor. He’s already gathered together a large support, and he’ll surely be strong enough to take back the kingdom. And once he does, I can promise you that not only will the crowns fall from you and your wife’s heads, but your heads will fall with them.”

A look of terror flashes in David’s eyes. The Queen doesn’t need to say anymore; he believes every word of it. He jerks in his seat for a second, before resuming his composure once more. His body wants to flee, to escape away to his palace where he can assemble an army and crush his father once in for all, but he doesn’t move.

 _He promised the queen the night_. Their eyes meet as she draws nearer to him. “With a little dark magic, I can crush King George like a bug. I can stomp on him and his revolt. Just say the word, prince. Say _yes_ to darkness.”

“I won’t- ”

“If you truly care for Snow White and your friends, then you should have no problem crumbling the threat that is posed against your family. You do want to protect them don’t you?”

David’s voice falters. “I. . . I do.”

“Then open yourself up to it. To the darkness; let it inside of you. Use it to your advantage.” All the while, Regina continues to move closer and closer to him, and their bodies are now inches apart from each other. She stands at the foot of his seat.

“I can’t,” he stands up from his seat and runs his finger through his hair. Their gazes meet once more. Regina moves closer, and their noses rubs against each other with their proximity.

“But you _can_. You must.” This time, David doesn’t reply, too weak to utter any words. He can practically feel the Evil Queen’s sharp nails clawing a firm grip into his heart, one that, if it last too long, she’ll never let go of. He wants to fight her, but he can't. He's not strong enough. She whispers to him. “The darkness likes how you taste, prince. _Let's seal it_.” She closes the small sliver of space separating their lips as her’s press into his. It’s slow, almost gentle brushing of their lips at first, as if she doesn’t want to hurt him. But gradually their kiss grows more passionate, more vibrant, and David can feel himself being lured into her.

He can’t refuse, can’t fight back from it, until finally he manages to summon together what diminishing strength he has left and pulls away from her.

He steps back from her, parting his body from her’s. In that instant, Regina waves her hand in the air and freezes him in his spot.

Breathing heavily as she stares at his frozen form for a brief moment, The Evil Queen reaches down into the open sleeve of her dress and retrieves a small vial of a purple substance. _The love potion Rumplestiltskin had given her_.

She unscrews the lid and steps towards him. Opening his mouth, she holds the bottle over him and prepares to guide several droplets of it into his mouth. This had been her plan all along, hadn't it? With this, she would finally accomplish what she'd been wanting. . .

But then, just like the prince in front of her, Regina, too, freezes. Something inside of her begs her not to do it, not to do it to him, and like that she stops what she’s doing. Putting the lid back onto the bottle, she slips it back into her sleeve, and, after taking one last look at him, waves her hand in the air once more.

David continues stepping back as he would’ve done had he not been stopped, until he turns around and begins to run out of the room.

Regina remains fixated in her stance, motionless, now alone in the great dining hall, wondering if she'd just made a mistake.

* * *

It’s early in the morning when David stirs from his sleep. His eyes open to find the bedchamber that, only a few hours before, had been flooded with darkness, now gradually growing lighter and lighter. Looking out the large balcony of the room, the sun hadn’t quite risen yet, but the fading blackness of the sky signaled that it wasn’t far off.

David let out a terrific yawn as he slid off the bed, still clothed in his now-wrinkled attire from the night before. He had slept very little that night, having tried to stay awake for as long as he could. Even after everything she said, he still didn’t quite trust the Evil Queen, and he felt vulnerable sleeping, unprotected, in one of her bedrooms.

She had originally offered him her bed, but he had. . . declined, to say the least. He’d only found this room after he trekked off from the banquet hall earlier last night, very much hoping that the queen wouldn't try and find him.

He picks up his sword which had fallen onto the floor and proceeds down the long corridor that opens off his bedroom. Much like the chamber, the rest of the Queen’s palace is still cloaked in a blanket of fast-fading darkness. It was completely silent in those hallways and rooms, the sound of his footsteps against the cold floor serving as the only noise.

Passing through yet another long, arched hallway, a slender figure protrudes from the shadows behind him, stepping out from the darkness and into a silver of light from one of the windows. “Going so soon?” the Evil Queen asks, her slim body barely covered with an airy, black robe that left little to the imagination.

“It’s morning,” David replies curtly, turning around and looking at her. With one look at the queen’s figure, he finds himself fighting to resist her. Never had he seen a body as beautiful as her’s, and it took all his might not to want to grab the elegant curves of her body.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” The queen’s voice is seductive, but in the pits of it, David recognizes something very much familiar to him in her tone: loneliness, as if she truly didn't want him to leave her. But he shakes it off as something that can't possibly be true. 

He turns back and faces forward. “I have to go.” Without another word, David continues onwards.


	6. Thought Control

Chapter Six

Thought Control 

The Evil Queen hadn’t been lying. It wasn’t as if Prince Charming _hadn’t_ believed her, but, nevertheless, she’d still been right anyways. King George _had_ been organizing a rebellion against Snow and his’s rule, and it had been right under their nose: through a series of secret messages, he’d sent word throughout the Enchanted Forest to his allies, and they had agreed to rendezvous at an abandoned fortress just on the edge of the Sherwood Forest, where they could further put the steps of their revolt into place.

One of his generals had intercepted the correspondence and informed David. Rallying together the royal army, they had headed out from the castle prepared to fight; however, when they arrived at the fortress, with swords and shields drawn, ready to vanquish his father’s rebellion, they discovered everyone inside to be disarmed and unconscious on the floor; trapped within the confines of a sleeping curse from which they would never awake.

It was more than clear who had been responsible for it. The Evil Queen was not a woman known for her subtlety and, if the sleeping curse wasn't enough, there was a single, bright-red apple placed carefully in the middle of it all. An apple with a bite taken out of it. 

 _Regina's calling card_. 

But that very fact did little to help dissuade David’s mind from thinking about her. Even before that, in fact since the very moment his eyes had parted away from her’s that early morning a few days ago at the palace, his waking thoughts had been completely devoted to her.

That night at her palace, their conversation in the vaulted banquet hall, her delicate touch against his skin, _their passionate kiss that sent ripples throughout his body_. . . as much as he forced himself to try and put it all out of his mind, as much as he tried to occupy himself with other things to forget about the entirety of that night, it never worked. His thoughts always found a way of coming right back to her.

It distracted him. More than that, it refused to allow him to focus on anything else other than _her_ during the daytime, and at night, it prevented him from sleeping. And when he did, eventually, fall asleep, he dreamed of her.

She was dominating his mind.

Snow White was beginning to worry. She saw what was happening to her husband, but she didn’t know why it was happening or how to help him. She thought that the joys brought on by her ever-growing pregnancy would help to bring happiness to her husband, but he only seemed to be growing worse.

Charming realized he needed to stop this madness, for not only his family's sake, but for the sake of the kingdom, and decided to visit the one person who he’d never have thought he would ever turn to for help again.

* * *

“Well if it isn’t Prince Charming!” squeals a delighted Rumplestiltskin from behind his dungeon bars, clapping his slithery hands together cheerily with glee. Surprisingly, he didn't get many visitors these days. “ _Splendid to see you_. Say, what brings the prince of the entire kingdom to visit little ‘ole me, dearie?”

David stands only a few feet away from the Dark One’s cell but, even in the low-light of the underground dungeon, he can still make out the scales and beading eyes of the other man. That alone makes his skin shudder, as if a slimy bug was crawling on him. “I need your help.”

“Really? _My_ help?”

“I want to make a deal.” Charming’s desperation is evident in his voice. He figures there was no use hiding it, especially since it would be futile against the Dark One’s capabilities. 

“Splendid! How can I be of service?” He rings the bars of his cell with his fists, adding emphasis to his statement.

“I need a forgetting potion.”

“Really, dearie? A forgetting potion. . . and what for? What is it you want to forget?”

“Like I’m telling you that.”

Rumplestiltskin shakes his fingers at the man and a takes a series of step backwards, his figure retreating into the darkness of his cell. “Tsk, tsk, prince. I’m afraid I can’t help you then.”

“Why do you care what it is? You’re going to get _something_ out of this, so isn’t that all that matters?”

The other man laughs a sinister cackle. “Oh, no dearie, it isn’t. You see, I need to know what my potion will be used to forget. It’s only a small fraction of the savor I’ll get out of this. Tell me what or  _who_  you want to forget, dearie, or it’s no deal.”

“The Evil Queen,” David mutters after a few moments. “Regina. She’s the one I want to forget.”

“And why would you ever want to forget about such a beautiful queen?”

“I’m not sharing anymore," David replies sternly.

"You want me to tell  _you_ where you can get a forgetting potion," the Dark One repeats, pointing at David as he walks aimlessly around his cell in a circle, "so that way you can erase all memory of  _Regina_ from your mind, is that correct?" 

"Yes. Now do we have a deal or not?”

“Let me think, hm,” places a pointed finger onto the tip of his chin. “ _No_.”

“Why not?” David cries, marching forward towards the cell. “You said- ”

“Because I don’t want you to forget about Regina, dearie. I want your mind to be just as plagued with thoughts about her as it is now.”

“I can have you released from behind these bars, I can offer you your freedom. Just give me a forgetting potion.”

Rumple shakes his head cooly. “No, no, no. I’m fine  _exactly_ where I am.”

David turns and storms away from the dungeon furiously, unsure of what he’ll do now. This was his only option, his last hope, on how to save his mind from being lost to the Evil Queen forever. He's hopless now. 

Just as he turns the corner to exit, however, a shrill voice calls out to him, “visit her, dearie! It’s the only way you’ll be able to satisfy your mind!”

* * *

Thundering rain pelts against the stained glass windows of the banquet hall at the palace with fervor, as a heavy storm brews outside, gradually increasing in size as the hours roll on. It's beside a roaring fireplace, the only source of light in the room, that the Evil Queen sits, poised and statuesque, at the head of the long dining table, alone, the glaring silence of the otherwise empty room sufficing as her only companion. Her expression is solemn, somber, as she watches with glazed-over eyes as tiny sparks flicker from the flames within the confines of the stone fireplace.

Suddenly a darkened figure appears at the forefront of the room, cloaked in the shadows. Regina looks up at him as he approaches her. “You’re back,” she says, as she stands up in her chair. Her voice echoes in the tall room.

“You put all those people under a sleeping curse. You stopped my father,” David replies, seemingly ignoring her previous words, as he steps into the light beaming from the fireplace. “Why would you do that? Why would you help _me_?”

“King George has always been a thorn in my side,” she replies quietly. "How do you know I wasn't just helping myself?"

“I. . . I can’t stop thinking about you," he blurts out, much to her surprise. "Thinking about what happened.”

A grin forms from her lips. “And now you’ve come back for more?”

He nods, and with two long fingers, she beckons him to come closer. He does so, obediently, at her command. Once he's within a a few steps from her, she reaches out and takes him by the hand, pulling him even closer. “Something to drink?” she says, offering him one of the many selections of liquid displayed on a silver tray, sitting on the table near the queen’s seat. Several of the pitchers are empty.

She'd already had several glasses that evening. 

“No. I didn’t come here to get inebriated.”

“Then why are you here, prince?”

“I had to see you,” he says, looking at her face, into her eyes. His expression is a soft one, though his eyes are pained. As if something was tormenting him. 

Suddenly, it changes, and the torment and anguish she saw in his eyes has now engulfed his whole countenance. 

“And to do this,” he finishes, and a second later he’s pulled out a dagger from his belt and now presses it into the skin of her neck. Hard, but not hard enough to penetrate.

Regina doesn’t flinch, as if they were still merely conversing, and, for a brief second, as David looks into her eyes, he’s convinced he can see her soul. Not the fierce mask she puts up as the Evil Queen, but her true soul. _Regina’s soul_.

A tortured soul, much like his own.

“You’re going to kill me? Go ahead. Do it,” she whispers into his ear. She presses her cold palm against his cheek, softly, as she leans in closer to him, as if to kiss him. She has ever opportunity to stop him, to use magic to throw him back off of her. Every chance to get the dagger away from her neck.

But she doesn’t. She allows it to remain.

“Kill me,” she repeats.

“You’re plaguing my mind. You and your darkness are clouding my thoughts. I can’t get you out. I need to stop it,” he cries aloud, as if trying to justify his actions to himself. Regina nods.

“Yes, I know. _Do it_. Slit my throat here and now and revel in my blood. Save you princess, your kingdom. _Save yourself_.”

“I will,” he agrees, gazing now at the blade in his hand as it presses into her neck.

“Get it over with.”

Suddenly, he drops the dagger onto the ground. “I. . . I can’t.”

"Of course you can. Pick up that dagger and kill me!" 

"No! _I can't_."

She shakes her head in disapproval. "How disappointing." 

He looks up at her in desperation, and for the second time that week, Prince Charming flees the great banquet hall of the Evil Queen's palace, as the mistress herself watches him escape. 

 _The darkness has leashed itself onto him now,_ she thinks to herself _. He'll be back._


	7. The Turn of The Screw

Chapter Seven

The Turn of The Screw

“We did it to protect Emma,” the reassuring words escape from David’s lips and to his wife’s ears, as they both loom over their yet-to-be-born daughter’s crib in the nursery of the palace. He looks into her teary eyes and wraps his hands comfortingly around her own. “We had to, Snow. It was the only way. Now our daughter is safe from the darkness.”

Snow nods. “I know, I know, and in the end that’s all that matters now. I just can’t get her out of my mind. . . Maleficent. . . w-we. . ." she tries to say the words, but she can't bring herself to.

"Snow-"

She interrupts him as she finally forces the words out. "We killed her child. We took it right out of her arms and murdered it. And Cruella and Ursula too. We killed all of them,” she took a heavy breathy and placed her hand protectively over her stomach. “We’re not heroes anymore.”

“We didn’t know any of that was going to happen,” David starts, though deep inside he himself can’t shake what they did, either. More than that, he can’t rid himself of Regina’s words that repeat over and over again in his mind. . . We use the protection of others as an excuse to dip our toes into the darkness without having to get fully wet. . . to justify having a sip of it to ourselves. . .

It's been rumbling around in his mind since the moment they watched that dragon egg get sucked into the ground: Is he dipping into the darkness? Is her evil feeding into him?

“But that doesn’t change what we did. Nothing can change what we did,” she looks down sadly at the ground and then looks back up at him. “We’ll have to live with this for the rest of our lives.” A silence resumes between the two, and after a few moments Snow sulks out of the room, cradling her belly in her arms.

“Snow?” he calls before she reaches the door.

“I. . . need some time. Alone.” A second later she’s vanished down the hallway, leaving David solitary in the nursery.

She’s right, he thinks to himself, we’ll never be able to come back from this. But that’s far from all that plagues his mind: deep inside he worries - he fears -that an eternal darkness is making itself comfortable inside his heart. What if the darkness isn’t just feeding on him anymore, but is, instead, devouring his entire soul? Like a poison, a disease, the evil infesting him from the Evil Queen is now starting to take full effect on him. . .

. . . and could be be starting to spread it to Snow? Never would they have gone to the length of murdering another living to accomplish anything before. It was only after his time with Regina, the Evil Queen, that this had all started. He shivers merely thinking about it. As if what they did wasn’t bad enough, is the cause of all of it his fault? Has he committed an unforgivable sin by spreading the darkness from his own soul to the purest soul of all, his wife's?

He couldn’t live with himself if he had.

This has gone far enough, he realizes. He should’ve done something before all of this instead of trying to ignore what he already knew what was inside of him. Almost killing Regina should’ve been a sign that his soul was souring into a blackness, one that he needed to eradicate, but he had convinced himself that by simply ignoring it, denying it’s existence, he could smother it from growing any further.

He was wrong, and now he determines to fully destroy any evil that’s made itself at home in his heart. For his sake, for Snow's sake, for his family's sake, for the kingdom's sake, he has to.

* * *

“Prince Charming,” the Blue Fairy’s soft voice echoes in the hollows of the trees of the forest, her flapping wings and bejeweled gown shimmering like gemstones in the bright glow of the nighttime stars as she glides down from the sky. “Why is it you have summoned me?”

"Rheul Ghorm," he turns to face her. “I need your help.”

"If this is about the Evil Queen's curse, alas, I have not yet found a solution-"

"It isn't," he interrupts. "No, it's not about the curse. It's worse. Much worse."

“Oh. And you. . . you request magic to assist you in your endeavor?” The small creatures floats closer towards David, and, as she looks at him, suddenly a horrified look spreads itself against her pale face, as she raises her hand to cover her gaping mouth in alarm. It's a look of realization.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“What is it you require my help with?” She replies bluntly. 

It took him a moment to reply. “There’s a darkness that’s tethered itself to my soul.” It pains him just to even say the words. It pained him just thinking about it, alone, in his mind, but finally saying it out loud to someone else was an altogether worse torment. He looks up at her, ready to brace whatever reaction she has, but sees her expression hasn't wavered. There's an awareness in her eyes. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?” he asks.

“I can see it on your face,” she nods, “evil leaves a distinctive imprint on a person’s appearance, and I’ve been around long enough to recognize it. I can see it in your eyes, I can feel it in your very presence when I get closer,” she hesitates. “You want me to help you get rid of it?”

His lack of reply affirms her conclusion. "It’s not just destroying me, but Snow, as well. I. . . I can’t let that happen.”

“The darkness resides inside your heart, the center of your soul. The only way to be rid of it is to purify it. To _cleanse_ your heart.”

“Then tell me how to,” he pleads in desperation.

“Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as it may sound. You can’t simply evaporate darkness: it must be transferred to something.”

He knows full well about that. “How?”

“Another person-“

His heart sinks as the Blue Fairy speaks the very words he feared she would. He knew all too well about transferring darkness to another human. If he'd wanted to that, again, he'd have gone to the Sorcerer's Apprentice. He had hoped there was another way, another way that the Blue Fairy, a centuries old fairy, knew about.  “No. No, I don’t want to inflict anyone else with this disease. I’ve been through that, before. Tell me there's any other way to rid myself of it? There has to be.”

“I’m afraid not,” the Blue Fairy replies quietly. “That is the only way.”

Without another word, David turns away from her, mounts onto his horse and sadly trudges down the path back to the castle, his insides twisting and turning within the confines of his body as the greatest fear he could possibly imagine begin to overcome him. 

Will he be stuck with this darkness _forever_?

* * *

A delicious grin, like a slithering viper, slithers across Regina’s face as she watches in the glass reflection of her magic mirror a helpless Prince Charming riding atop his horse, away with his seemingly only source of help, the Blue Fairy, and towards the darkness of the forest. In a twisted way, it’s also a comparison for what she’s doing to him: morphing his heart so much, to the point where she doesn’t even have to lift a finger. He’ll flee into the darkness all on his own.

 _She’s happy_ , she tells herself. Her plan is falling into place. He’s the rolling rock about to reach the edge of the cliff. She may have had to give him a little push, a little force, to set him on his path, but he’ll reach the cliff and fall off it _on his own_.

So far she’s winning. She loves to win. She's always loved to win, but, yet there’s something she can't reconcile. In the deepest pits of her stomach is a feeling that aches out. It cries out, it screams, but it’s just barely audible amongst all the other darkness inside of her. She can’t quite place what the feeling is. . . but it is starkly in contrast with what she _should_ be feeling. Starkly in contrast with the pride of success that she _wants_ to be feeling. 

A unexpected footstep sounds behind her. Loud, demanding, wanting to be heard. In an instance, Regina’s eyes dart back to her mirror, and she finds that Prince Charming has vanished from her sight. Pleased at his speed at reaching her castle, she turns, expecting to lay eyes on the tortured soul.

And she does so - lay eyes on a tortured soul - but it isn’t the one she thought.

“ _Maleficent_ ,” Regina whispers softly, before her voice gradually grows louder. “I wasn’t expecting to see you anytime soon. Not after how we left things.” Immediately she notices there’s something different about her old friend and lover.

“Snow White and Prince Charming," Maleficent explains, growling like the dragon she is. ". . . _I want their heads_.”

“And why would the mistress of all evil desire the heads of two idiot royals? I’m the one with the vendetta against them, not you.”

“Things have changed. They took,” her voice quivers. Is that tears drizzling down her eyes that Regina recognizes? “Something valuable from me. And as repayment, I want to mount their heads on spikes and display it at the gates of my castle.”

“By something valuable as in your egg?” Regina asks. She knows what they did. She watched every moment of it through the view of her magic mirror. “I know, old friend. I know what they did to you.”

“Then you should understand why I want them dead.” The outrage grew in Maleficent's voice.  _If you knew, then how could you let them do this to me?_ Her tone practically screamed. 

“Understand? Yes, I do. More than you know. But I can’t let you do that.”

“Why? You’ve been trying to kill them for years. Let me do this. Let me make them _suffer_ for the pain they've caused both of us.”

“I can't, Mal, because, I have something far more satisfying planned. Something that will really make them suffer. _Truly_ make them suffer. Just you wait.”


	8. Pushing The Edges

Chapter Eight

Pushing The Edges

The sound of carriage wheels rolling along jagged stone roads fills the air. A gilded door swings open, and out swoops a black swan in flowing ebony fabrics and jewels that glitter in the moonlight of the starry night. A wooden, run-down tavern, not unlike the equally filthy buildings that populate the village, stands before her. The creature looks on in disgust as she glides inside with elegance and discretion, her face masked, and her appearance lost in a sea of drunk, grimy farmers, sailors, and the like, slinging drinks in the air and liquids into their mouths. Past the bar and tables she proceeds and into a backroom where a man awaits.

She cuts a direct path through the crowd. The Evil Queen’s here on business and business only. The quicker she can remove herself from these disgusting rats, the better. Besides, she doesn’t do rum.

“Well, if it isn’t the Evil Queen herself,” a deep, though familiar, voice beckons as Regina steps into a dark room that smells of rum and smoke. The light from the doorway breaking through the darkness, she lays her eyes on a smug man seated in the corner on a tilted-back chair, a bottle in one hand and the breast of a naked woman on his lap in the other.

“Hello again, Sheriff,” Regina replies, her voice filled revulsion. Her skin tingles as if a serpent’s slithering up and down it, the disgust she felt at the last time she encountered the Sheriff of Nottingham, then posing as someone else, still causing a shiver throughout her body. “Lovely to see you.” They both know she doesn't mean it.

“And what in heaven’s name could I have done to be graced with the Evil Queen herself’s presence at my fine establishment,” he asks, freeing his hand of the woman's bosom to motion around the room. Regina eyes the big-breasted woman seated in his lap, refusing to speak until they’re truly alone in the room. With the Evil Queen's silence, The Sheriff turns to the woman in his arms. “Leave us. I talk business alone.” With a quick nod, the other woman struts out of the room, still without any clothes.

Regina begins. “I’m in need of your services.”

“I still have burn marks littering my skin from when you dangled me over a pit of fire in your dungeon,” the Sheriff said. “So what makes you think I’ll be lending you my services any time soon?”

“Because I’ll pay. _Heavily_ ,” twirling her hand, a large sack that overflows with gold coins appears suddenly on the table. “I can pay your weight in gold and more. Whatever is necessary for your employment.”

“Oh so very tempting. It's not often a _Queen_  is in need of my services,” he pauses as a suspicious grin slithers across his face. "In fact, I believe the last time a queen had come to me in need, it was your mother. Yes, that's right, it was in this very establishment that she strutted in here and convinced me to play your Robin Hood. How's she doing?" 

Regina's face falls and she purses her lips. It's then, that she realizes this won't be easy. "I can give you endless riches- "

“Ah, I see I’ve hit a nerve. I knew there must be some tension there. You know, you quite remind me of her. Beautiful, seductive, but determined,” he says the last word with distaste, the mere thought of a woman being remotely strong abhorring him. Regina can’t help herself be even more detested with him. “Why don’t you sit, have some ale, and let’s talk.”

“Are you going to- ”

“Do you know what your mother offered me to help her trick you, besides endless riches, as you yourself have promised? I suppose not, so here it is. _Sex_. I’ll tell you, I was honored to take a woman of noble birth into my bed and she was quite good for her age. Very good, indeed. Much better than all the other whores who populate the local brothels.” He pauses. "Perhaps you could offer me the same? It would go a long way."

“You know there are other men I could get to do this task? Men who would be honored to help their queen and collect a fortune for it. You’re not the only assassin in town," the Evil Queen marches to the door. "Goodbye, Sheriff, and good luck drinking yourself to an early grave.”

“Wait, wait,” the Sheriff calls. Regina stops in the doorway, knowing full well that he wouldn't let her get away. “You're right. There _are_ many more men in town who you could hire for this. Why me? After what I tried to do to you?”

“Because I know you can get the job done.”

He thinks for a moment. “I want more than just money.”

“Ask, and you shall receive it,” she says. “Riches, estates, women. You can have whatever your heart’s desire is. Just do this one, simple task for me and it can all be yours. What do you say, Sheriff?”

“Your majesty," he says, taking a sip of his drink, "I’d say we have a deal.”

* * *

His hands grip the balcony railing tightly, as he sucks in a sharp breath. The view of the entire kingdom laying before him from that spot, once, not long ago, would've been a source of cheerfulness to him. But not anymore. For now, as he gazes out over the sea of forest and villages laying beyond the castle, it isn't happiness he feels, but pain. Pain that this kingdom and all its people are relying on him for protection. Protection against rivaling kingdoms. Protection against ogres and other dangerous monsters. Protection from droughts and food shortages. 

But, most importantly of all, protection from their former monarch, the Evil Queen, a woman filled with a darkness that inhabits the evil. A darkness that they witnessed day after day when she ruled them tyrannically for decades, and saw again when she promised to cast a cruel, terrible curse. But while the kingdom trusts him to protect them from it, little do they know that their king has that same darkness growing inside of him. 

How could he protect them?  _He can't protect them_. 

He had shut himself up in his room for days on end, thinking that, maybe, just maybe, in some twisted way that if kept himself locked away, that maybe he could keep the darkness locked away, too. That if he denied himself both food and water, then maybe he could prevent the darkness from growing, from festering, anymore than it already had. 

He desperately hopes so. 

“David.” He doesn’t hear her the first time, too lost in his thoughts. “David,” the soft voice repeats. 

“Snow.” He flinches as he turns towards her. It’d been several days since he'd seen her for, anytime he was near her, he risked spreading the darkness. The disease.

“I brought you this." Stepping into the shade of the indoors, he sees her standing in the doorway to their room, a silver tray with food and water on it. He doesn't deny it smells delicious, but he knows he can't touch it. He'll do whatever it takes to suppress the disease inside of him. He glances over the look of concern on her face. "I know you must still be torn up about. . . what happened. I know I am. I’ve thought about it every single morning when I wake up, and every single night when my eyes close. I see Maleficent’s face, the pain in her look. . . but I’ve realized that you were right. We did it to protect Emma. It doesn’t excuse what we did, but. . . maybe it can help us be better people.”

He remains silent.

“David?”

"Yes?" he says softly.

She lays the food down on the bed. "You need to eat. You can't starve yourself." 

He shakes his head. "No. No." 

"David, please. . ." she pauses. "I know we've been giving each other some space, but I don't think we can get through this divided. Only united will we get past this. . . and we must, David. Get past this, that is, for Emma's sake and our own." He continues to say nothing and keep his distance. She steps closer to him, though he takes a step back. "Something's wrong. It's more than just what happened. I can see it in your eyes. You’re acting strange. You’ve been acting strange since before it happened.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I’m your _wife_ , David. You can tell me. Whatever it is, I don't care how bad. I just want you to get better. _I love you_.”

He shakes his head. He knows she does. He loves her, too - or at least tells himself he does - and that's why he must stay away. He loves her too much to let the darkness spread. . . he  _can't_ let it spread. 

"No. No," is all he's able to say again. 

"I do love you, David. Why don't you believe me?" 

"No, no," he mutters again. 

"David- "

"I still need time," he says quickly. "Time. I need time. That's what'll make me feel better. Time alone." 

After looking at him sadly, she finally nods. "Alright," she concedes. "If that's what'll make you feel feel, then time alone is what you shall have. But just know that I love you, David. I love you so, so much. I'm always here for you. Please." And with that, she walks solemnly out of the room. 

_Alone again._

 


	9. Third Time's A Charm

Chapter Nine

Third Time’s A Charm

 _I should apologize_ , David thought. Well aware that if he allowed the darkness that inhabited him to assail her the damage and harm he'd cause her would be far worse then his hurtful words, he nevertheless couldn't reconcile himself over what he'd said to her. His stomach churned as he thought about the pain he caused her. She was his wife and, even if he _was_ protecting her, he couldn't stand to see her like this. 

But the evil. . . the corruption. . . inside of him wouldn't just evaporate for the moment so he could say he was sorry to her. Going to her meant he also risked allowing it to escape from him and into her. Maybe if he was quick, he'd _have_ to be quick. Maybe if he just apologized and then slipped away swiftly into the night and back to his corner of the palace where he could remain in solitude. Explain to her that he still loved her, terribly, and that's why he had to stay away. For her own protection.

For her own safety. 

* * *

The palace corridors are silent and filled with shadows as he moves through them mutedly, walking onwards into the dusk of night that floods each rooms and towards the tower chamber that Snow had stayed in since he’d locked himself away for days. As he turns down hallways and steps through alcoves, every now and then he notices a palace guard posted on duty, armed and alert should their assistance be needed. There were more than usual. The Evil Queen’s curse was coming and a way to stop it had yet to be discovered. They had to be prepared at a moment’s notice should the dark clouds of her curse come billowing on the horizon, even though there was nothing they could do to stop it.

A moment later he ascends up the spiral staircase, his feet hitting each step softly, and reaches the corridor just outside his wife’s bedroom. The candles have all been put out, and it takes his eyes a moment to adjust to the complete darkness before he walks to her door. He listens carefully to the sounds of Snow’s gentle, soft breathing that can be heard even through the walls. He hated to disturb her from her slumber, but he knew he had to say this now or else he might never be able to. He reminds himself to hurry, for at any moment she could catch the disease he carries.

Twisting the knob, he pushes the door open silently to reveal a vast, circular room covered almost entirely in a blanket of darkness. A sword of light, streaming from the single window the room possesses, cuts through the room and across Snow's bed. The moonlight highlights his beautiful wife's face. Her eyes are closed. She looks peaceful, as she always does when she's sleeping. Noiselessly he moves towards her, still shrouded in darkness, across the vast room.

He looks ahead and his eyes catch a slight disturbance a few feet away from him. He can feel a breeze surging in from the open window. _That must've been it_ , he thinks. 

 _No, it isn't the breeze. It's something else_. He aims his focus closer. A black figure, otherwise indiscernible, creeps carefully along the stone walls, being just as quiet as he is. He stops and stares at it. The figure doesn't seem to notice him, instead continuing to slither throughout the room. At first glance, David might've mistaken it for an intruder, but now he there's no mistaking what it could be.  _The darkness_ , somehow having escaped from his body, moving to do the very thing that David feared it would: take his wife. 

His eyes widen and can feel his jaw drop. He fumbles backwards, realizing the mistake he'd made coming here, his eyes still focused on the figure. Maybe if he left now, maybe if he just fled it'd follow him back to- 

The figure moves into the moonlight, and a face is outlined in the black. A human face, one that looks determinedly as his tall, sturdy body inches closer and closer to a sleeping Snow's bed. Something shimmers at his side as he moves more into the light. An object that David knows all too well: the pointed blade of a dagger, one surely meant for his wife's heart. He doesn't recognize the face of the man, but it is clear as ever what he's there to do. 

Before he realizes what he's doing, David finds himself slamming into the man, nearly sending them both out the window with his force. Grabbing him by his collar, David pounds him into the stone floor with a newfound strength that was stronger than he'd ever been before. The expression on the man's face is one of surprise and shock, which only grows as David pins him to the ground with his knees and the man realizes he can't escape. 

"Wait! Stop! Wait!" the man screams, his voice interrupting as David picks up the fallen dagger and stabs him in the stomach. A sweet, unexpected relief fills David as he forces the blade to pierce the man's skin. He doesn't doubt who's sent this man to kill his wife, and by killing him he knows he won't let her win. He's protecting Snow. That's all he's ever wanted to do is protect her.  

The man screams again, but his voice is quenched as blood pours like a fountain from his mouth. David jabs him again. _He won't let her get to Snow. He won't let her or her darkness destroy his wife and child. He won't. He never will_. Again he stabs him, and again, all over his body. Once, twice, three times, four times. Again and again and again, a feeling of relief continuing to grow inside of him with each thrust. As if he's not just stabbing a man attacking his wife, but the very darkness that inhabits his soul.  _He'll kill it. He won't let it win._

Blood soaks everything. His face, his hands, his clothes, the man, the floor, everything. But he doesn't let that prevent him from continuing to puncture every available area of the man's body, gashing and tearing apart every limb he can.  _He won't let the darkness win. He won't let her win. He has to protect Snow_ , he continues to repeat to himself with each stab. A cry of horror interrupts him from behind. 

 _He has to protect Snow_. . . A soft hand touches his shoulder firmly. "David- "

He turns and shoves the dagger into the person behind him, too. Another cry screams into the air. David drops the dagger and realizes what he's done. 

With eyes of pain and sadness, Snow cups her hand over her side, thick, red blood creeping out from in between her fingers and dripping down silken nightgown. She falters, but manages to keep standing. "David. . . David. . . David," is all she can mutter as she looks at him. He stands up and starts to the door.  _How could he have done this? To the very person he was trying to protect all along. . . the darkness. . . this is only the beginning. It'll get worse. He has to go. As far away as he can. To the one place she'll never follow him. To protect her._

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"David, it's alright- you didn't mean to- David!" she cries, but it's too late. He's already gone. 

* * *

Regina can't remember the last time she's strolled through the palace gardens. The moon peering down through the ebony night off in the distance, the beautiful trees and ivy-covered archways, the warm gaze of the torches - it all creates a peaceful, serene atmosphere in contrast to the rest of her cold, dark palace. _I really should come here more often_ , she thinks as her eyes trail her surroundings. But she's been busy, and that's not about to change.

She hasn't been away from her magic mirror for this long in months. Doing so would've entailed taking her eyes off her precious prince. Before she couldn't have risked that, but she doesn't need to see him now to predict what he'll do next. He's like a chess piece on her board at this point. A very handsome, weak chess piece, nevertheless, but one she finds she's beginning to grow attached to. He could snap in moment's notice. She won't let that happen. 

The Evil Queen sits beside her father's apple tree, running the tips of her long nails against the smooth surface of one her juicy red apples, when she hears him in the background. His feet crunch against the gravel walkways of the gardens, and she turns to look over at him. 

"You sent him. . . didn't you?" he says, coming closer and closer. He looks out of breath. _It must’ve worked_.

"I did," Regina says, setting her apple down gently. Their eyes meet. "Did you kill him?" 

He nods as walks closer, and she doesn't even try to deny the grin forming on her face. For a moment they both face each other, in the complete silence of the gardens, before, to her surprise, his legs falter and he collapses at her feet. She expected a fight. She's glad he doesn't. “You win,” is all he can mutter before falling into her arms. "You win. I surrender." 


End file.
